![](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/800px-King_George_V_class_battleship_1945.jpg\")
\n(HMS King George V- \u201cCagey Five\u201d- enters Apra Harbor, Guam, with sailors manning the rail in August, 1945. Photo National Archive 80- G- 328942)<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: It is appropriate that we arrive with Mac at the end of the Pacific War just as Winston’s bust has been returned to a place of honor in the Oval Office and the British Prime Minister is in Washington to take the measure of the new administration. Mac would have laughed- there is little in this world he had not seen, and the importance of having the British Empire participation in the closing days of the conflict was considered vital. For long-suffering readers on whom I have inflicted this stream of tales, they represent a sample from some of the 50-odd interviews conducted by Vic Socotra with RADM Donald \u201cMac\u201d Showers. The larger book, working title “Cocktails With Mac: Hot and Cold Wars in the American Century” will contain much of the World War II narrative, and continue through the days of the Cold War, Vietnam and the huge tumult in the Intelligence Community in the 1970s. We are just about done mining the World War Two part of Mac’s career. It is not your standard military history, as you have seen. Rather, it is a personal history of a wonderful friendship with one of those people who can truly say they saw just about everything when America was at the zenith of its influence and power. Some readers have sampled it and recoiled in horror, saying that it resembles \u201cTuesdays With Morrie\u201d by Detroit Author Mitch Albom. Others have commented that is has more in common with the classic short film \u201cGodzilla Meets Bambi.\u201d In any event, it was a project in which Mac participated with relish, and according to the notes scrawled on the towering stock of cocktail napkins, he enjoyed immensely as well.<\/p>\n
-Vic<\/p>\n
Cagey Five<\/p>\n
\n(HMS King George V- \u201cCagey Five\u201d- enters Apra Harbor, Guam, with sailors manning the rail in August, 1945. Photo National Archive 80- G- 328942)<\/p>\n
I was walking over to Willow when Old Jim called. I fished the phone out of my briefcase and answered- it was a District number, and I thought it might be him. If I was smarter I would enter all these anonymous numbers on my contacts list but I hate talking on the phone and the device is smarter than I am anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d growled Jim. \u201cMac is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am on my way,\u201d I said. \u201cGetting ready to cross Fairfax Drive. Be there in a minute or two. Busy day. I will tell you when I get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim clicked off without comment. It had been a busy day. I flogged the Hubrismobile up to Shippensburg to confirm the burial space for Mom and Dad, visited Eby\u2019s Granite Works to order a headstone, toured a couple likely spots to hold he reception, and found a place that would block some rooms to accommodate the family that will attend the funeral.<\/p>\n
I made it back with an hour to spare, and went through the office mail after the company system took twenty minutes to boot up.<\/p>\n
Our crack IT staff has succeeded in their Information Assurance mission so thoroughly that the system is now almost impregnable to use by the employees. Brave New World, I thought, and thought I could make the date with Mac on time.<\/p>\n
People were drinking out on the patio. The day was that nice, and I had the top down at the cemetery. It had been thirsty work, and I was gratified to see that Liz-with-an-S was back behind the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worried about you,\u201d I said, slipping onto a stool next to Mac.<\/p>\n
Liz-S gave me one of those radiant smiles as she topped up my glass. \u201cClean bill of health from the Docs,\u201d she said. \u201cI was going stir crazy at the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of that going around,\u201d said Mac. \u201cI drove fifty miles today getting my grand-daughter to some medical tests out in Fairfax. I am starved. Is there anything new on the menu?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere may be duck tacos,\u201d I ventured, \u201cbut they are usually out of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac studied the menu, and I got my pen and notebook positioned. Neither of us had eaten that day, so Mac asked for the duck, and I decided to go with the Pollyface Farms organic deviled eggs. \u201cI brought you my recipe for no-fry eggplant parmesan,\u201d he said, sliding a wire-bound cook-book toward me. \u201cIt is something we did at the Arlington Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read the title on the book: \u201cComforting Foods; Comforting Times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could use some comfort. Wait- it is right here at the end of Liz-S\u2019s arm in this glass!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac laughed. \u201cI am feeling great. I walked over from The Madison.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo kidding! You are getting spryer and spryer! We won\u2019t be able to keep up!\u201d I looked up the bar.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Mac-jon-with-and-jon-without.jpg\")
\n(Mac with John-With and Jon-Without. Photo Socotra.)<\/p>\n
Old Jim anchored the Amen Corner. John-with-an-H was wearing a worn Carhartt Jacket rather than his usual suit. \u201cI tele-commuted today,\u201d he said, looking at his Happy Hour red with satisfaction as Jasper topped him up.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe too,\u201d I said. \u201cbut mostly just commuted.\u201d<\/p>\n
I picked up my pen after inhaling a deep draft of an impertinent white wine. \u201cNow, where were we?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac looked at me with a twinkle. \u201cYou never know where to start, do you? Why not at the beginning. That is a good place to start.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNah,\u201d I said. \u201cI like to jump around. I think I might have ADD.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think?\u201d growled Jim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alcohol helps,\u201d I said. \u201cWith the word that the Navy is going to start using breathalyzers on sailors when they come on the ship. It is ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard that,\u201d said Mac. \u201cWould not have been popular in my day.\u201d He took a sip of Bell\u2019s, a fine golden lager out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. His duck arrived on a rectangular white plate and he began to nibble on the dark morsels.<\/p>\n
\u201cit is like they want to make General Oder Number One permanent,\u201d I said indignantly. \u201cYou guys won World War II and you had a wine mess at the forward headquarters on Guam.\u201d
\n\u201cYes, we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, let me ask you this. Your Boss Eddie Layton almost punched out Admiral Richmond Kelly Freaking Turner onboard the USS South Dakota at the end of the war. Turner was drunk onboard ship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo was Eddie,\u201d said Mac. \u201cThere was probably more alcohol flowing on that ship the night of the victory as ever was poured on a man-o-war since Trafalgar. People used to ask me how I tolerated him, but he was always OK with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is an interesting cultural snap-shot,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat about Admiral Nimitz? Did he drink?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever saw him do so,\u201d said Mac. \u201cHe may have had a glass of wine with dinner, but he certainly wasn\u2019t a booze-hound like some of them were.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever socialize with the Fleet Admiral?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot really. Well, wait, there was one time.\u201d He took a bite of duck and looked pensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that on Guam?\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/584px-BruceFraser.jpg\")
\n(Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, Commander in Chief of the British Pacific Fleet. Photograph taken on board HMS Duke of York at Apia, Guam, 1945. Photo Imperial War Museum.)<\/p>\n
Mac nodded. \u201cYep. Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser- F-R-A-S-E-R\u201d he spelled out as I scribbled, \u201cHe brought the Cagey Five into Apia to present Nimitz with the Order of the Bath.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWow. Were you there for that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I was. The Admiral sent out a note that anyone who had a set of dress whites could go out to King George V- Cagey Five, we called her- and attend the ceremony. I happened to have a set of whites, and I was included in the party. It was around August 12th, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the Admiral drink at lunch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDunno. He and Fraser went to the Flag In Port Cabin, and the rest of us were in the wardroom with the Brits. We had lunch, and then we drank all afternoon, and then through dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat must have been pretty fun. I have gotten smashed on Canadian warships, the last time being at Fleet Week in San Francisco in \u201898. I miss a civilized wardroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was on the way to not being so civilized, so we decided to get the boat and go back ashore. We were walking down the brow to board when we heard Cagey Five\u2019s 1MC crackle to life. The Captain announced that the Imperial Japanese government had made a decision to honor the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a moment,\u201d I said in wonder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes indeed. It may not have been official, but we turned around and climbed back up and had more drinks in the wardroom before we finally went ashore to sleep it off. On the way we stopped to ask Colonel Purple, the crusty old senior Marine on the staff if he had heard anything, and he said he hadn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dWasn\u2019t that the guy whose house you flooded when your car hit the fireplug out front?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac smiled. \u201cYes, it was. He didn\u2019t think much of the junior Navy officers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was funny. But as to the merriment, you were entitled to it,\u201d I said. \u201cIt meant that everyone was going to live, and no one was going to have to die in the invasion of the Home Islands.\u201d
\n\u201cEverything changed. Everyone had a different reaction, and most just wanted to go home as fast as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExcept you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac nodded. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a job to go home to. I was single. I liked the Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a Navy that I remember, but is just a fading memory now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you will be surprised by that. Any institution that has survived a couple centuries will probably survive what is going on now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope so. I sure had fun in my Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the next day we resolved to host the Brits ashore in thanks for the open bar in their wardroom on Cagey Five. Then they had us back. It went on, back-and-forth, for four days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSounds like fun,\u201d I said, taking a sip of happy hour white from a glass that never seemed to get dry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was. But by the time the actual surrender was announced by Hirohito on the 15th everyone had been partying for days. I went up to the club at Nimitz Hill to have a cocktail.\u201d
\n\u201cMust have been wild,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Mac shook his head. \u201cNope. It was kinda funny. There was no one there. Too much merriment over the last four days, and no one came.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot quite what I would have expected,\u201d I said, putting two fingers across the side of my glass and winking at Liz-S.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that pretty much sums up the whole thing, in my experience,\u201d said Mac. He dipped the last bit of duck in a dash of hoisin sauce, and happily popped it in his mouth.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Mac-and-Duck.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Copyright 2017 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Editor\u2019s Note: It is appropriate that we arrive with Mac at the end of the Pacific War just as Winston’s bust has been returned to a place of honor in the Oval Office and the British Prime Minister is in Washington to take the measure of the new administration. Mac would have laughed- there is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15200"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15205,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15200\/revisions\/15205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}